


preacher sweating in the pews

by Nindroid



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Crossroads Deals & Demons, Demon Matt Murdock, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 10:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18444515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nindroid/pseuds/Nindroid
Summary: Jack makes a deal, proving you really should be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the Devil in 'em.





	preacher sweating in the pews

_ Sweaty hands fumbled with a piece of chalk, eyes frantically darting over the page of the heavy, leather bound book that sat open to his side.  _

_ He didn’t have much time. He knew they’d be coming for him soon. That was the choice that he made when he went back on his deal.  _

_ Jack Murdock knelt down in one of the abandoned lots, having grabbed his bag and ran after the match, scratching out sigils on the cement, reading and re-reading the book he had scrambled the find prior. He had never done anything like this before, his lines were sloppy, maybe one or two of the characters were wrong, but he couldn’t afford to be extremely precise. Typically a ritual like this would’ve taken a few hours to prepare, according to what he was reading, but he didn’t know how long he had before they found him.  _

_ He dumped out the rest of the contents of his bag, a few candles, a small bowl, various herbs, a lighter, and a small knife. Jack quickly set the candles around at each point of the pentagram he had drawn, the bowl going in the middle of it all, filled with the herbs. He lit each of the candles, and then the contents of the bowl, before picking up the knife.  _

_ “Please fuckin’ work…” he mumbled, lifting both his hands above the bowl and pressing the blade of the knife to his palm.  _

_ The second a drop of his blood hit the flame, it burst upwards, roaring a bright, almost neon yellow, almost throwing Jack backwards in the process.  _

_ As the fire died down, turning to a thick plume of black smoke, in its place stood a large creature, hunched over and clutching a staff in one of its gnarled clawed hands. It looked mostly humanoid, with a long whip-like tail with a spade at the end and leathery black wings. It leaned down, smoke whicking off its body as it took a deep breath in and seemed to survey the scene.  _

_ Jack stared up at it from his position on the floor, blinking at the creature. He knew demons were real, that was an undeniable thing, but to see one in person was a completely different story.  _

_ “Well?” it said at last, voice like gravel, turning its attention to the still awestruck boxer. From this angle, now, he could see that it was wearing a blindfold, and something dark and black was oozing out from behind it. “Are you going to say something or just waste both of our time?” _

_ “U-uhm…” Jack stammered, slowly getting up. “You know me. O-or… know of me.” _

_ “I do.” It seemed to spit that, like it was something disgraceful. “You’re a Murdock. Your blood reeks of it.”  _

_ “Which is what I want to talk to you about.” _

_ “There’s nothing to talk about. A curse is a curse.” _

_ “I-I know, but… My boy, Matty. I… I don’t want him to live the stupid life I put him in. I wanna… I wanna offer you my soul in order to help him.”  _

_ It seemed a bit more inquisitive, at that, tilting its head. “And you think that’ll pay off your debt?” _

_ “No… I just… I need something. I’m already damned, I don’t want Matty to end up the same.”  _

_ The demon took a slow step forwards, its talons just barely brushing past the line of the once chalk sigil that was now burned into the floor. “I know you are. Someone out there wants you dead, real bad. Who’d you piss off, Jack? Who’d you hate to see win so bad you’d abandon your child you seem to care so much about?”  _

_ Jack swallowed hard. “I’m not playin’ your game. Do we have a deal or not?” _

_ It folded its clawed hands carefully around the ashen staff it carried, leaning back a little to ponder. “A soul is a soul is a soul. Anyone can offer me that. You’d be surprised how many people call me up asking to trade theirs in. It’s worthless to me.” _

_ “Please, I’m begging you, I know there ain’t a spot for me in Heaven, and I got nothing else to offer you. I just… I need this. Matty needs this.” _

_ Lifting its head, it heard the way Jack was unwavering in his conviction. The demon was right, souls were worthless with how many schmucks tried to offer theirs for whatever petty needs they so desired. Most of it was, in fact, helping loved ones. This one had little interest in such an affair, but for a Murdock? Well…  _

_ It slowly extended a gnarled hand to the boxer. “We have a deal.” _

_ “And you’ll help Matty?”  _

_ “I’ll do what I can.” _

_ He looked up at the demon’s face, pressing his lips together as he watched its black tears roll down its cheeks, drops of the stuff hitting the floor and sizzling slightly. Jack steeled himself, before lifting his own hand and taking hold of the demon’s, wincing a little as it burned slightly. “Deal.” _

_ Then there was a pain like he had never experienced before. The demon yanked his arm, and his whole body felt like it was being torn to shreds. No solid hook to the jaw or shattered rib could’ve compared to this. He screamed a horrible, gargled sound and blood bubbled up his throat, but the second it started, it stopped.  _

_ Jack’s body slumped to the floor.  _

_ “Now, let’s go see that boy of yours.” _

* * *

 

Inky black dripped onto the pavement. A gloved hand came up to wipe it from split lips. Claws flexed at his side. 

Listen for the sound of movement, duck, grab, twist.  _ Crack. _ A terrible scream. 

His lips curled in a snarl revealing razor teeth behind them, coated in his own black blood. It was like clockwork to Matt Murdock. The taste of his own sulfur and the smell of iron and fear. He hissed as he pulled the crook’s arm harder, tucking it under his own and pulling him closer to his masked face. “You get a kick out of this, huh?” he snarled.

“What the  _ fuck _ are you?!”

He lifted a taloned foot and kicked hard at the other man’s knee, almost grinning at the audible snap. Another garbled scream. At this point it was almost like sweet music to him. “I asked you a question. You get a kick out of pickpocketing drunk girls?”

“L-listen, man! I just need the money!”

Matt’s tail snapped like a whip behind him. Claws sunk into skin. The smell of blood got stronger. The sound of a heartbeat got louder, breathing more labored. The taste of cheap beer, sweat, and residual lipstick on the crook’s face fell on his forked tongue. “Well, there’s a lot better ways to do that then scouting bars, hoping to get lucky with some girl that’s drunk enough to think your ugly mug is attractive, then slipping your sticky fingers into her purse while you’re locking lips out back.” 

“The fuck is wrong with you?!”

He pressed his claws in harder, drawing a hiss from the other. “Here’s how it’s going to go down,” Matt stated, as if his word was law. “You’re going to give this woman her money back, and you’re going to turn yourself in to the police. If you don’t, trust that I will know, and I’ll break a bone in your body for every dollar you stole. Am I clear?”

“You’re out of your mind!”

Matt moved his hand to grip tight to the man’s hair that he could feel (and smell, really) hadn’t been washed in over a week, pushing hard and sending his face to meet with the wall. He heard his nose snap against the brickwork, tasted the fresh blood, felt the man seize up in his grasp as he howled again. “I’ll ask again, and that’s not something that I like to do. Am. I. Clear?”

“Yes, yes!” Matt felt him shake, heard his raspy, desperate breathing and pounding heartbeat. “You’re clear! You’re clear! Please, just stop!” 

Clawed hands slowly relaxed their grip, and with the best of his broken ability, the criminal pulled a wad of crumpled cash out of his pocket and dropped it at the feet of the woman who had taken up ducking behind a dumpster before scrambling off. 

Slowly she stood, just having gotten a glimpse of whoever it was that intervened before hiding out of fear, only to find the alleyway vacant. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is a little short i'm aware, but this is just to get the ball rolling. trust me when i say this is going to get wild.


End file.
